UPDATEExcuse the lack of technical terminology but essentially I backed it all up, reformatted the internal drive, loaded it back and (thus far) it's working fine.I think there is a file on the HD that deals with Data Management - it's called the SYS.BIN file. I think it got moved or corrupted somehow and was constantly reporting back the original HD Full error.I think the way it's programmed means any single file exceeding the remaining capacity will generate a warning but any batch export that will exceed it in total doesn't, but it fills the drive and creates a sort of loop where you can't fix it without reformatting it.I now get a full 4GB of Transport space and no errors. So far anyway.

Possibly the worst place to ask about in-the-box digital home recording but I m hoping someone has experience of this or has a better understanding of how these type of devices read and organise data.I use a Yamaha AW1600 digital recorder for home recording. It has USB-out to enable back-up and transfer of files. I like it loads “ it gets a lot of use supplementing ˜proper studio sessions so people can do the more time-consuming experimental/dicking-about type overdubbing off the studio clock using stereo stems of the rough mixes with the same zero point, and then I can simply export the overdubs as WAVs and drop them back into the proper session.So far so good. However, I m having a problem with the device reading the available space of its internal hard drive and I think it s a programming issue with the way it s designed (as opposed to a faulty drive) and I need a workaround.The AW1600 saves every audio file in chunks from the moment you press record to the moment you stop. It then uses an internal organising system to arrange those files into a project so it knows where those otherwise random WAVs should start and stop. In the same way as Cubase or Reaper does. You are able to access these audio chunks by linking the device to a PC via USB. You can dip into the Audio folder for any project and play these little snippets or transfer/copy them out but it s pretty useless except for backing up projects you ll then later reload into the AW1600 because the data around where each file starts and stops is contained within the in-house Yamaha program.The way I work is to use the œExport function within the Edit menu of the machine. You can specify one or more tracks and the time region you want and then Export them as a single WAV file. The device does this by creating the WAV internally and saving it to a folder on the Hard Drive called the œTransport folder. You then link via USB to the PC and drag them across. You can fit any size HD to the AW1600 but the Transport folder seems limited in the programming side of things to 4GB. That s still plenty “ even when working across a whole session of 90 mins or more. Even if the Transport folder fills up it s just a case of dragging the files across, deleting them from the folder and carrying on.I recently completed a big session across all 16 tracks for around 83 mins total time and across two separate projects on the Hard Drive. I had no issues with space when doing this and so tried to bulk transfer all 16 tracks for the whole project into the Transport folder as individual WAVs. Each file is around 480MB in size.The machine said it had finished but when I checked only 4 of the 16 files had been created. They re big files and I should have done them one at a time to be sure but ordinarily it will tell you there isn t enough space to complete the action and you can transfer the existing WAVs, delete and move on.I dragged the files across to do just that but every subsequent time I try to export files to the internal Transfer folder it tells me the œHD is Full! . I have Optimised every project, deleted everything unnecessary and completely emptied the Transport folder but it still tells me there is no space. Hooking it up via USB shows me there is a ton of free space on the drive and the Transport folder is empty.The weird thing “ and why I m posting here for thoughts “ is that occasionally it will ˜fix itself. I will turn the device on and try and Export some files and it will inexplicably work before telling me again the HD is full. After which nothing I do will fix it.I m starting to think the way the machine is programmed means that it isn t actually checking available space on the drive when I try and Export (if it was it would see there is plenty) and when it works I am somehow doing something to ˜jog it back into looking. But I just can t work out what that would be: turning it on and off / changing the file name / emptying the Transport folder etc etc have all resulted in it suddenly working but never consistently and I am still trying to extract a ton of work from this thing.Does anyone know how these type of HD recorders (that use an in-built programme to organise files) work? Is there an action that sort of œclears the cache and removes the œHD Full! message I m getting? Why does it think the HD is full? Why does time seem to fix the thing (does it clear any warnings after a time period or a number of power-downs)?Any help appreciated ¦

Couple things:1. I guess there's some program called AW Extract that converts the file format in those things to WAV. Maybe is different than Export function. Maybe that helps, maybe not.2. Can you alter the "write" speed of the device, when it's creating the WAV file? A change like that may jar it into re-examining the state of the file system.

honeyisfunny wrote:UPDATEExcuse the lack of technical terminology but essentially I backed it all up, reformatted the internal drive, loaded it back and (thus far) it's working fine.I think there is a file on the HD that deals with Data Management - it's called the SYS.BIN file. I think it got moved or corrupted somehow and was constantly reporting back the original HD Full error.I think the way it's programmed means any single file exceeding the remaining capacity will generate a warning but any batch export that will exceed it in total doesn't, but it fills the drive and creates a sort of loop where you can't fix it without reformatting it.I now get a full 4GB of Transport space and no errors. So far anyway.Oh good. I once thought an ancient but valued multitrack demo was gone forever and I almost cried. Had to pull the drive and run some bullshit on it. Almost cried again when I got it back. And now it's the last track on the most recent Mint Mile EP yay

I noticed the stated 4GB capacity limit matches a built-in limit for a single file size under FAT32 hard drives/drive partitions. The input dimensions you specified-- 16 x 480MB = 7.6GB, passes that limit by about double and so I think 1) maybe the system is maybe designed to cache its export as a single file at some export stage and 2) maybe you're inadvertently asking for trouble when you effectively ask the system to create a single file that's over 4GB. There's another different clue about limits: what's interesting is that when it failed, it created 4 files taking up a total space amount a smidge less than 2GB, not 4GB, which suggests that there is inside the "Transport" folder a 2GB partition limit you're bumping into. Maybe that's the only relevant limit? Not sure. Not even sure if these limits are relevant at all.I think you're doing the right thing by cleaning out the Transport file by hand, and I am guessing the lack in consistent export operation after you do that is tied to the length of the subsequent session audio going over either the 4GB FAT32 hard file limit or a 2GB partition limit. If this kind of hassle doesn't occur after you 1) clean Transport then 2) export sessions representing way less than 2GB total, then I would take this problem as the recorder telling you that it just doesn't export well if there's too much input.

tmidgett wrote:I once thought an ancient but valued multitrack demo was gone forever and I almost cried. Had to pull the drive and run some bullshit on it. Almost cried again when I got it back. And now it's the last track on the most recent Mint Mile EP yayviewtopic.php?f=4&t=61649Just messin' with you. Glad you got the song back. I've lost some recordings and it's a long, bad moment when you realize they're gone.